


History In The Making

by Ashynarr



Series: Restartstuck [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers, Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Just a thoughtful little crossover, might be spoilers for Homestuck depending on how far you are into it, might update occasionally
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 14:48:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6428530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashynarr/pseuds/Ashynarr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>History has always fascinated Aradia, and Earth has such a plethora of it that she'd felt no harm in moving there to help uncover it. Was it surprising, then, that she was the one to find those beings who embodied it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Interesting People

Perhaps it was just a quirk of the mismatched universe they'd all made together, five sessions condensed into one ultimate, untouchable prize (theoretically, anyways). It could have been the end result of a passing comment, a small memory of her own passions from before she'd known of SGRUB shared with the one being whose will could take it and make it reality in the oddest and most interesting of fashions.

Aradia found she didn't really mind either way, because she'd always had a soft spot for history, and to know there were now special beings who embodied it?

(All of them - eight humans, twenty-four trolls, and a cherub - were not quite the same thing, since they hadn't really been born here and existed somewhat outside the normal evolution of this universe. The Game still lingered in their bones and pulses, dulled power coursing through them even as they blended in with those they'd indirectly created.)

Beforus had had countries of a sort, each managed by a purple or violet-blooded troll while the empress oversaw things as a whole. Alternia had had Her Imperious Condescension in charge for so long that nearly all records otherwise had disappeared into the annals of time. The two histories had mixed together on their new homeworld, creating a slow buildup to unification that was not quite as complete as Meenah would have hoped.

Earth, in all of its variations, had hundreds of countries, mixing and bristling and bringing forth so many new cultures and languages and mythologies that she hadn't even had to think when the trolls and humans of this universe had finally met in the flesh; she'd simply moved on in, taking to this world as easily as she had to godhood and not minding the stares she'd sometimes get from the humans she'd interact with on her wanderings.

(She'd taken a few years to go through a human school in order to get a proper degree, just for the experience. She hadn't realized it was such serious business back when she was young, and found a greater appreciation for the job through it.)

To their credit, Aradia hadn't actually found out about them for several years, only meeting two by coincidence in the middle of a dig in Egypt. More accurately, they'd found her, the two coming to a stop nearby while she was in the middle of carefully dusting around old pottery shards.

"Hey, what're you working on there?"

The troll looked up from her work, blinking in the friendly afternoon sunlight of both world's new homestar at the two humans who'd approached her. One of them is a face she'd seen a few times around the digsite, working as hard as her but still giving the sense that he was keeping an eye on her.

(Not that that was surprising - she finds that humans, like trolls, love novel things more than almost anything, and being one of the first trolls to move to Earth semi-permanently certainly counts as such.)

The second man is one she can't recall ever seeing, but he's grinning and gives off an air of importance that she would be hard pressed to miss even without her psychic abilities as he introduces himself.

"Alfred F. Jones, and it's really cool to meet you at last, Ms. Megido."

He doesn't flinch at all when she smiles back, to his credit. "It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Jones."

Her attention drifts fractionally to the left, where she can just see the stirrings of what seem to be spirits behind them both, churning quietly, nearly invisible even to her eyes. It's hard to distinguish features, almost like there's hundreds trying to shove their way into one spot right beside them-

_Interesting._

"I've been wanting to meet you for a really long time, ever since I heard you were going through uni to study archaeology of all things. And I mean I'm sure you've got a lot of people wanting to ask you questions and stuff but, well, is it cool if we chat while you work? Unless that'll distract you too much, cause I know it sucks getting interrupted when you're working on fragile stuff and you end up cracking something old and valuable-"

"It's fine," She promises with a laugh, seeing his friend ready to leave and return to his work. "But only if I get to ask a few in return."

"Oh, that's cool, and hey, thanks for helping out a bro, Herc."

"No problem," The Greek man nods, waving a lazy farewell before turning and wandering back to the rest of the small crew.

Aradia waves farewell to him as well, glancing back to Alfred before turning back to her project of the day. He takes it as an invitation and settles down beside her, glancing over to the small pit. "What d'ya have there?"

"A vase," She replies, gesturing to the shards that she's carefully put to the side, though she remembers where each one was easily. "I'd need to put it back together before I could tell you what it looks like, though. What brings you out here?"

"Huh?" Alfred blinks before recognizing the question. "Oh, I had some free time and I figured, since you seemed to like archaeology too, it wouldn't be quite as weird if I came up to you and started chatting while maybe helping out around here afterwards. Why Earth, though?"

"I like studying old cultures, and my homeworld doesn't place as much emphasis on it as you do, and you all have such varied histories! If we ever did, it was too long ago for anyone to remember." Aradia set another two shards to the side. "Is this a hobby for you, then?"

"Yeah, actually, though I do have a degree and stuff," Alfred shrugs with a smile. "Mostly I do annoying paperpusher stuff, occasionally deal with meetings, so a chance to get out and about is always nice. Any particular culture you like more?"

"Mmm, I haven't decided yet. I want to see more of them first, since I've only just gotten started. What about you?"

"Same, really, though I've been looking a bit more into Native American stuff since that's closer to home." Alfred mulls over his next question for a bit. "You guys don't have as many countries, then?"

"Not really," Aradia laments, because though unity is good for peace, the push and pull between countries also has its benefits that could help keep the troll empire from collapsing on itself if only the fuschia-blooded empresses would see them. "Their last remnants are being absorbed into the Empire."

"That sounds lonely…" He mumbles quietly, glancing up and frowning as if he could peer at this world's closest planetary neighbor.

"I suppose it might seem that way," She pauses in her work to look at him. "Although I don't know if lonely is the best term…"

"Huh?" Alfred replies, blinking at her as he returns from where his thoughts wandered to. "Oh, I guess not, but like, it's hard to imagine a world that really only has one big culture instead of a lot of smaller ones."

"That would be odd to humans, wouldn't it?" She smiles in understanding, having known her humans friends to be the same whenever Alternia had come up in discussions. "I thought some of your science fiction shows had worlds like that, though."

"That's different - if you're gonna have a lot of different species, it's hard to build them all up without giving up plot and stuff, and there are good shows which only have a few they can build up really well."

"I guess so," She replied placatingly, amused at his fast defense of the genre that reminded her somewhat of Karkat and his romcoms. "I suppose it helps the people who write those shows to at least be sure of how one alien culture works."

Alfred looks ready to correct her, but instead replies after an extra beat, "It does, doesn't it? I think almost every last scifi flick has you guys in it; is it the same with you guys?"

"I believe so," Aradia thought back to the planet she hadn't spent too much time on in the grand scheme of things. "I'm more a fan of action, though, which doesn't have as many of you in it, no offence."

"None taken," He grinned and shrugged. "Sorta the same with ours, since this whole first meeting in person thing is still new and stuff. I actually have a lot of action movies and stuff at my place if, well- uh-"

She held back her laugh at his backtracking, figuring that for a human he was very odd and very interesting, and hardly dangerous to someone immortal like herself. "I could have my friend send some of our movies over and we could compare them, if you like. I've been told by other humans that a cultural exchange through movies is a good bonding experience, and I feel I would learn more about your world through what you enjoy in your free time."

"Really?" He coughed, regaining his confidence and grin. "I mean, sweet! Call me up next time you're in the states and I'll pick you up, if you're still up for it by then, anyways."

"I'm looking forward to it," Aradia promised, feeling that if nothing else, her time here would certainly not be boring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...ahahaha, yeah, whoops. Was trying to write other things but nothing was really sitting well with me so I decided to try this out instead. I'll try not to do it too often but sometimes I just need characters I can actually write involved to smooth out the process.


	2. Interesting Things

As promised, he was waiting for her at the airport when she finally decided to take up his offer, standing out so sharply against the others around him it was a wonder no one else saw anything strange about him. Then again, she wouldn't have thought anything strange about him either if she hadn't had the fairly rare ability to see ghosts.

(Her dancestor apparently shared her gift, though Damara was far more content to ignore the spirits unless absolutely necessary.)

Still, she had promised to consider it, and it was only fair (and fun) to study the living cultures of this world as well as the dead, for comparison if nothing else. Not to mention she was curious as to this 'Indiana Jones' John had mentioned when she'd asked after human action movies she might be introduced to.

She'd also been told to go visit Rose and Roxy since they were currently living in upstate New York, since that was where she was flying in to visit Alfred anyways. She obligingly did not peek ahead in the timeline just to see what would happen if (or when) she did, instead focusing on her time in the large human city that Alternia had never had the equivalent of.

(Even on Beforus, trolls had preferred their space; how humans tolerated and even thrived in such cramped living conditions was an exciting puzzle she hoped to understand in due time.)

Aradia grinned and waved back, ignoring the looks she gathered from the humans around him as she made her way over to him, her luggage already at hand. "Thank you for inviting me."

"No prob," He replied, escorting her through the small crowd of others waiting for friends or family to come through the same doors she did and out of the terminal, the afternoon sun bright after her eyes had gotten used to the internal lighting of the airport itself. "Just lemme know if you need anything while you're here and I'll see if I can hook you up."

"Well, I might need a ride upstate in a week or two," She replied, downplaying the fact that if she really wanted she could just get coordinates from the Lalonde sisters and fly over there on her own power, but as that might make her host (hmm, maybe a better word was needed) nervous, she figured that would be a second resort.

"Upstate? What for?"

"I've been told a few human friends of mine live there, and have been invited to come over since I'm here already."

"Really? That's good- I mean, I won't mind driving you up there as long as I get directions. Or I guess if they want to visit I can give them my address, just to reassure them that I'm not some creep trying to do anything, even though for all I know you have some weird alien kung fu you can use to kick my ass if you wanted to."

Aradia laughed at the notion, partially because she had recently learned about that from a coworker who had taken self defense classes and partially because he was reminding her a great deal of John and Jake. She then wondered if he was into adventures or pranking, and figured that he very likely could be into both.

"Hey, you wanna get food on the way to the apartment?" Alfred asked suddenly. "I know airplane food isn't great and I'm not sure how hungry you are so I mean if there's anything in particular you want-"

"I'm fine with anything," Aradia intervened with a smile. "I haven't really found any human foods that I can't eat so far."

"Oh, that's good, getting you sick would've sorta left a bad impression, but yeah, there's a good Chinese place on the way that we can pick stuff up at-"

She let him ramble, content to examine him while he kept the conversation going mostly by himself. The contained swirl of spirits still lingered next to him, not paying her any notice despite her gift, and she wondered briefly whether he honestly didn't notice them or he was just able to ignore them that well. Maybe she could ask him later, once she knew him a bit better.

His truck was a bit old, but even with no huge interest in mechanics she could feel the age and care put into the vehicle. It was, in fact, almost like some time magic had been used in order to keep it in better condition than it would otherwise be.

Interesting.

She confirmed the feeling as they made their way down the highway, feeling along the thin threads of unintentional yet precise applications of her aspect, and wondered again how much of the game had bled into this universe, and whether Alfred was quite what he presented himself as.

Aradia shot off a message to her friends while her newest project ordered their food inside, innocuous enough to ease their fears while telling them next to nothing about her actual thoughts on the matter. She also, notably, forgot to give them the address he'd given her, because as much as she loved the people she'd gone through The Game with, this was something she wanted to do on her own.

It was simple anthropology, really - if you want to examine the true nuances of a people or culture, you go in alone, with gifts preferably, and do you best to make them feel comfortable with your presence until they start letting their guard down and show you the true workings of their world.

(And really, the others could be so _hasty_ sometimes; if there was one thing they had an abundance of now, it was Time.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And part the second. I don't know if I'll ever make this into a genuine story simply because there's no like, huge plot to it, but I guess I can update it occasionally. Maybe. Shrugs.


	3. Interesting Ghosts

As John and Alfred had both promised, Indiana Jones had be wonderfully fun and exactly to her tastes. She'd been invested enough that she hadn't even really thought about the mystery of her new friend, though she'd had time to come back to it after they'd started her favorite action movie from her wriggler days.

For a human so supposedly accomplished and settled into his job, he was awfully young - it'd taken her years to get her degree and a job, after all, and Alfred seemed barely into adulthood. He could have just looked young, she supposed, but for some reason it was impossible to tell. WIth most beings she could feel how long time had been wearing at them, but his timeline was all over the place - he could be ten seconds or forty sweeps, though the time it seemed to linger on most was close to nice sweeps, a few less than herself.

Aradia hummed thoughtfully, looking her host of the day over while he was distracted by the action of the film. The push of ghosts seemed lessened at the moment, as if his distraction was closing off whatever path they were seeking back into the realm of the living.

An idea struck her, and she looked back to him before focusing for the slightest moment on the ghosts -

And one came out of the indistinguishable mire, an older man dressed far differently than she recalled from any modern humans. He seemed to blink in confusion, light passing through him as he looked around and, for a long moment, gazed wistfully upon the man he'd been haunting.

As if he could feel some of the gaze himself, Alfred frowned and turned to her, meeting her innocent gaze. "Uh, you need something?"

"I could use the ablution block, actually," She replied easily, before remembering that wasn't the proper name here. "Ah, I mean the restroom?"

"Oh, right," he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck while his gaze flickered around the room, searching for something he couldn't see. "It's just down the hall, second door on the left; can't miss it."

"Thank you, Alfred," She smiled and stood, noting he'd paused the movie even as she followed his directions and closed the door behind her. Only then did she turn back to the ghost who had followed her, either realizing she'd been the one to properly summon him or else confused enough by her presence to investigate.

"Hello," She greeted softly, smiling without showing teeth in order to keep him from feeling too nervous. "What's your name?"

"David Featherston," He replied, gaze lingering for a long period of time on her horns and eyes. "Are you a demon?"

She shook her head. "I'm a troll, from the planet next to this one. I was curious about why you were haunting Alfred; I'll let you go or help you move on afterwards if you like."

"I see. I suppose I should... My wife must have been waiting for quite a while…" He shook his head before looking back up to her, expression earnest. "Could you pass on a message for me before I go?"

"Of course."

"Tell him… thank you for the flowers."

She tilted her head in acknowledgement. "I'll make sure to do so."

He smiled and dipped his head in thanks, already starting to fade as his reason to remain disappeared. In only a few seconds she was alone again, humming thoughtfully as she finished up and left the room. Her return to the couch was unremarkable, Alfred having gathered more snacks from the kitchen while she was away, and he seemed relaxed again as they finished the movie in a comfortable silence.

As the credits rolled, Alfred stood and stretched before leaving down the same hall she'd gone down nearly a half hour beforehand. Having already decided on the next film to watch from his collection, she sat back and thought over how she was going to ease into the topic before giggling and figuring she might as well just be direct about it.

When he sat back down with her a few minutes later, she put a hand over his to keep him from starting the movie right away. On his questioning look she smiled, shaking her head slightly.

"I just wanted to give you a message first, from a friend of yours," She told him, unphased by the raised eyebrows that go her. "A David Featherston asked me to thank you for the flowers."

She could see the moment the name registered, just as it had for any of the other humans she'd done this for. They wondered how she'd known the name, how she'd know something that was perhaps only know to that person and the ghost who'd spoken to her. At the least, none remained skeptical of her capabilities as a necropath.

(Leery, certainly, but not skeptical.)

"How did you…"

She pulled back and shrugged. "I'm what my race calls a necropath - one of perhaps a few hundred rustblooded trolls with the ability to see, speak with, and to some degree control ghosts. Our race has much stronger psychic capabilities than yours, so ghosts are more prone to lingering, and some… some can be dangerous. So those with the talent, like me, are trained to harness our skills to help keep the living safe from dangerous spirits and to help the ones lingering for other reasons move on."

"Y-you can control ghosts?" He asked quietly, looking surprisingly afraid for an otherwise cheerful and fearless young man.

"I've only had them haunt someone deliberately once," She replied softly. "And that was because she'd critically injured a friend of mine. I was five sweeps then - eleven years by Earth's count - and was a bit angry with her. After that, I've only used my ability to help ghosts move on and find closure."

"Ah." He closed his eyes and took one breath, two, and three before opening them again, looking for a moment younger and older than he had a few moments ago. "I-Is he here now?"

Aradia shook her head. "He moved on after he told me his message."

"I… that's good, I guess…" Alfred's head sank for a moment, just enough to hide the majority of his expressions. "...thanks, I guess."

"No problem. Do you want to start the movie now?"

He finally looked back up at her, for a moment wondering at the change of topic before recognizing it as an out and offering her a small smile. "Sure, sounds good."

The second Indiana Jones movie, as it turned out, was just as good as the first, and it had the bonus of getting her friend's mind off of the ghost thing for a bit. The mysteries around him were only growing, enough that she felt certain this wouldn't be her only visit, a prospect that she hoped was still on the table.

It would be a shame to lose such a nice friend so quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I figured three chapters of this idea was enough to give it its own fic instead of stuffing it into my Homestuck Drabbles folder. I have no idea how long this'll be or where it's going, but it's a fun little crossover I'll probably be writing more for after April is over.
> 
> Speaking of April, I'm spending the whole month writing Homestuck things in order to celebrate the anniversary and the end of Homestuck! It's been a wild adventure for me since I got into it, and I figured I might as well celebrate the best way I know how.


	4. Interesting Times

It was just after four in the afternoon that she arrived at the long driveway leading to the secluded Lalonde Hive- well, manor, Aradia corrected herself, wings already itching to stretch after several months of disuse. Behind her, Alfred's car still rumbled idly, its driver waiting patiently for her assurance that this was the right place.

"I'm pretty sure this is it!" Aradia assured her new friend, turning towards him and offering a friendly smile. "Thank you for driving me out here."

"Not a problem," Alfred replied, offering his own smile even as his gaze slid away from the driveway to her. "Just hit me up if you need anything, like a ride to the airport or something, alright?"

"I should be fine, but thanks for the offer. Maybe next time I visit I'll have more movies to share."

"I look forward to it. See ya, Aradia."

"See you!"

With one last wave, she turned back around and started walking up the long drive, waiting until the feel of time started moving away to unfurl her wings and quickly cover the rest of the distance. Landing gently before the front entrance to Rose's home, she reached up to press the chime alert button only for the door to open the moment before her finger pressed against it.

"You're thirteen minutes late, you know," Rose informed her dryly, tilting her head slightly to invite the troll in.

"Sorry, we took the scenic route and got distracted," Aradia apologized cheerfully, stepping inside and waiting for the human to close the door behind them. "How have you and your dancestor been?"

"We've been doing quite well, thank you," Rose smiled slightly, leading the way to the dining hall, where some snacks and tea had already been set out in preparation for her arrival. "She and Calliope are visiting Jade and Jake over in California, so I'm afraid it's just us here for now."

"That's alright, I'll just have to say hi to them later. How's your book been coming?"

"I've hit a wall for the moment, unfortunately - I admit I might have been relying a bit too much on Calliope's inspirational nature to keep me going, so I will have to suffice with tea and all nighters until her return." The former light player offered her guest a seat before claiming the chair across the table, picking up her half-emptied teacup as though she hadn't been interrupted. "How has your own research been going?"

"Oh, it's been fun!" Aradia beamed. "It's been really interesting learning about the ancient Egyptians - I could spend an entire lifetime studying them alone! But I really want to see them all before I decide for sure, and Alfred said that there's a lot of different Native American cultures to look through, so I might check those out after I'm done with the ones you guys recommended."

"Is that your new friend's name?" Rose asked, brow raising slightly. "Sounds somewhat old-fashioned."

"Is it?" Aradia tilted her head back thoughtfully, quiet for a moment before continuing. "He reminds me a lot of John, actually."

"Silly but well meaning?" The seer guessed immediately.

Aradia thought to the ghost she had spoken to only briefly. "And thoughtful."

Rose hummed thoughtfully. "Do you think it'd be a good idea to introduce them then, just to see what happens?"

"If he wants to, I guess. Isn't he busy in college, though?"

"There is that. I still can't believe he decided to go for a career as a doctor, of all things. With his penchant for pranks and his alternate self's career path, I would have sworn he'd have started on his own stand-up comedy career as soon as he finished high school."

"Cronus is teaching music theory, and Sollux and Equius have teamed up to develop programs that will allow Earth and Alternian tech to work together." Aradia shrugged. "Sometimes life just pleasantly surprises you like that."

Rose smiled. "I completely concur. Speaking of which, have you heard the latest news from our friends?"

Aradia smiled at the influx of good news, even the bits she'd already heard about. For all she'd left Alternia behind, her nostalgia at a childhood of exploring old ruins and abandoned hives made her silent promise to bring the passion of history and the rediscovery of one's forgotten past to her people, even if it would take a hundred sweeps.

Alfred had called it lonely, back when they'd met, and perhaps it was just as true of her as it was of her world, but one day, she knew a renaissance would come, and she'd be there to witness history in the making.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for disappearing for a while – college started up, and among other things I just was completely unmotivated to do much more than drabble a few personal things occasionally. I'm hoping this month might get me back into the swing of things by playing around with this AU some more.
> 
> Hopefully you guys will enjoy.


End file.
